


The Lord of the Castle

by TheMirrorDemon



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Ghosts, KH Rogue Nebula, Magic, Mentions of Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMirrorDemon/pseuds/TheMirrorDemon
Summary: Riku didn't asked to get into this situation, but maybe the Light was a magnet for problems.When Terra asks for the help of the Council of Light to help with the search of his daugther, Riku is the one to be sent to help. He's ready to find her, but not to be dragged into the place she has been kept to and forced to help the other people trapped inside the place. As he suspected, darkness is the root of the problem.What can you do when you need a princess back, but the kidnapper it's the place she's being kept in?For the KH Rogue Nebula!! (Hope you like it)
Relationships: Naminé & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Riku & Terra (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 7





	1. Act One: It starts with a bang

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to post this, I've been working on it for eons and I'm still finishing it, but I'll do my best and you'll get the rest of the work before this year ends!! It's a long fic so be prepared for a lot of story. Be sure to tell me if you liked it!! There may be some mistakes, I hope not
> 
> Thanks a lot to my lovely editor Arin and my beta Fireborn, I couldn't have gotten here without you guys and honestly I'm so happy to work with you uwu

“Grand Master Riku. It is a pleasure to finally see you here.”

Riku knelt in front of the throne that the gracious king sat upon. 

“Please, stand. We shall talk about the matter at hand in a different room. Follow me.” Terra stood from his throne and Riku followed him to a door at the back of the throne room that led to a more simple looking room. Terra sat in one of the big red and golden loveseats and Riku sat in front of him across the heavy coffee table.

King Terra looked serious. He inhaled deeply and reached into his royal garb to take out what looked like a journal. It was made of leather and looked worn out. He offered it to Riku, who took it and opened it. Inside there were a lot of sketches: drawings of flowers -- as well as pressed one -- portraits, animals. It was definitely owned by an artist, in Riku’s opinion.

“People don’t know this, but Naminé is not my biological daughter,” Terra started. “I actually found her on a trip to the battle of the Kingdom Trio. The one against GrandMaster Xehanort” the king pointed out. Riku nodded. He had read about it but hadn't been a member when it happened. Terra must have been quite young at that time. Probably in his early twenties.

“We passed a lot of destroyed villages and towns. Got ambushed many times. On the last day -- against the last wave of Xehanort’s army -- we stopped in a little town close to a river. We got attacked, and the town was destroyed. We managed to escape, barely. Afterward, my bag was much heavier to carry. Until I heard her cries.” Riku gave back the journal and Terra caressed the cover fondly. 

“Her mother found a way to get into our camp, and placed her in my bag. I don’t know if she knew about the attack or if she just wanted to get rid of the baby. But I just knew that Naminé no longer could go back there. So, I took it upon myself to raise her as my own,” the king scoffed and leaned back into the couch. “The rumours of a deceased wife helped me bring her in. I still don’t know where they came from, but they have helped her to be welcomed to Sors as my heiress.” 

“And now she is gone.”

The look of pain in the king’s eyes was raw and pure. Emotions flowing out of him. Riku tried not to feel pity. It was not his position to. He could only offer the help he had been asked to give.

He took a moment to think.

“Until she isn’t,” he just blurted whatever came into his mind in that moment. He wanted Terra’s focus on him and hope might be helpful. Terra looked up from the journal in his hands.

“She might be gone for now, but she’s not gone forever, Your Majesty. I ask that you do not jump to negativity so quickly or the darkness might want to overtake you,” Riku smirked. “We both know how that’s not the best option right now.” Terra let out a soft laugh and met Riku’s gaze.

They knew each other from back when Riku started his training. And bonded over being once overcome by the darkness. The only person they could turn to being each other, only them knowing how it felt.

There were still a lot of things they didn’t know about each other, but the bond was still there.

Terra wiped the tears that were starting to form in the corners of his eyes.

“I know, I know.” He let out a breath and composed himself. “But this is the situation we’re in. Grand Master Riku, my daughter has been kidnapped and I request your help to find her.” Terra extended his arm towards Riku, a sparkle of light starting to grow into his palm. “As an ally of the Council of Light, I request the help of one of their masters, and vow to repay this favor when the time demands it.” 

Riku extended his hand towards Terra’s and covered the sparkle of light with it. The light travelled through his arms until it reached his chest and disappeared. 

“Your vow has been accepted, Your Majesty.”

Terra nodded and stood up, walking towards the big windows at the back of the room and gesturing for Riku to follow. The view from there was of the back of the castle, the back garden, the walls of the castle and the forest that followed. Terra pointed towards the big wooden door in the wall of the castle.

“He got inside from there, hidden in one of the waste collecting carts. He reached Naminé’s room from the outside, climbed in, dressed in all black, unseen by the guards outside. By the time we heard Naminé fight him, he already took her outside. He knocked her out and carried her into the woods. My men tried to search for his tracks. But all we found was one of his money pouches, which leads us to believe he was paid to do this.” He frowned at the window. The sudden anger that overcame him was unfiltered and overwhelming.

“You think this is a work of Xehanort,” Riku asked. Terra nodded, and Riku thought deeply. Xehanort had been defeated and executed, but his followers could still be out there. And the survivors from the war could have tried to hurt Terra the way they knew would hurt him the most. If they knew about Naminé’s origin or not didn’t matter. They might be the ones responsible for this. “Could I have a look at the money pouch? If he was paid, the money might be Xehanort’s, and he always marked his gold with his sigil. That could give us a lead.”

The king lead Riku to the soldiers quarters, where all the evidence from the case was being collected. They had some soldiers giving testimony about the night of the incident, as well as some of the servants that were awake at that hour, too.

Terra asked for the money pouch and got out one of the coins, showing it to Riku.

Nothing. A completely normal gold coin. No ‘X’ sigil, nor any trace of it being manipulated to look ordinary. Just a normal coin. Riku frowned.

Riku gave the coin back to Terra. “We still can’t rule Xehanort’s followers out. I suspected he might be behind this, even after seeing the coins. But I wanted you to confirm it for yourself.” Terra told him, but Riku wasn’t so sure. This could always be just another situation totally unrelated to Xehanort.

“I don’t think this will be enough to help me figure out who he even is. I think the best option is to follow his tracks and continue where your soldiers left.” Riku walked out, followed by Terra.

He needed to be as close to his last track as possible. Terra told him his soldiers returned immediately after they found the money pouch. That meant that they stopped before losing his tracks, in that case he might be able to find something there that no one else continued to search for. 

Yeah, that might work.

“I will have the leader of the company guide you to where they stopped. But it is risky to go on your own at night. It might be better to wait until dawn tomorrow to go,” Terra said. Riku stopped and looked at Terra.

“If we wait until then, we might not be able to get to him in time. Your Majesty, I request I am taken there as soon as possible, for the sake of Princess Naminé,” Riku said. By the look in Terra’s eyes, Riku hit a nerve with that. Terra nodded reluctantly. Riku smiled, and placed a hand on his shoulder before walking inside the castle to retrieve his gear. He needed to get ready if he wanted to start his search now.

The leader of the squad was waiting for Riku once he stepped outside. Both men were ready with torches and their gear. Terra joined them shortly after, with a few soldiers following him and guarding him once they were outside the castle grounds.

Terra had a pained look in his eyes and a forced smile on his face. It hurt Riku to a certain degree to see him like that and not the proud and strong king he usually was.

“I wish you the best of luck on this journey, Grand Master Riku. And may you succeed in your search.” 

Riku nodded and both he and the squad leader disappeared deep into the woods.

It wasn’t that far when they reached the place where the squad leader found the money pouch. He explained where they found it and what they could see ahead of them -- which wasn’t much, honestly speaking, as it was pitch dark in the forest. There wasn't even moonlight seeping through the trees and the torches as the only source of light to tell them where they were going.

“We suspect he kept going straight. The broken branches continued a little after this spot. But we are not sure if he changed his direction at any point after that. We retreated to the castle immediately after finding the pouch. I do hope any hints you can find are still intact.”

Riku doubted so, but he didn’t say a word.

“I will continue from here, you can return to the castle. This place stinks of darkness and I wouldn’t like for anybody to be a victim of it,” Riku said. The soldier obviously didn’t like that idea either. He seemed more worried by the mention of darkness in the forest than being a victim of it, though.

“Shall I report this presence to the king? It might be related to the case or could make it more difficult to find any traces,” the soldier said. Riku agreed. The forest definitely wasn’t a normal one if he could smell the darkness so easily. 

“That will be your mission then, go now and hurry,” Riku said. The soldier bowed and left, the light of his torch slowly disappearing in the distance. Riku waited until he couldn’t see it anymore to extinguish is own torch and summon his blade.

The familiar weight materialized in his hand and he let out a sigh of relief. Now, he could proceed.

He summoned a little light spark using his magic, and it dispersed lighting his path better than a torch would have. And so, he continued his walk. 

The better light helped him to see more details than before, and he walked peacefully, looking carefully at every little rock, grass patch and tree that surrounded him. Nothing seemed out of place, so he kept going.

After walking for a little while, Riku started to hear branches snapping and rustling of leaves, like some animals were following him. Probably, the light caught their attention. Or it would have seemed like that, had Riku not noticed scratches over the dirt path. He swallowed, impatient, and quickened his pace.

He was not scared. He was fully alert. A pack of wolves was the last thing he wished to encounter when he needed to find more evidence. Dying to feral animals was not part of his plan tonight. Hopefully the sun decided to come out earlier than normal.

Riku kept going, but the sounds did not stop. It kept getting louder and louder. Riku stayed on the alert.

Riku whirled around as something jumped out of the shadows. He guarded and was ready to run. But he noticed the weirdly shaped creatures, and his eyes widened when he recognized them.

“Crap. Of course it had to be the darkness.” The little Shadow dropped -- defeated -- to the floor, evaporating. More came out of hiding and started to close around Riku in a circle. He looked around for any chance to escape. At nighttime, and completely in the dark, not even a spark of light outside of his own, fleeing was the only option.

‘Light Guardian!’

A voice -- other than Riku’s -- sounded inside his head, giving him a start. One of the Shadows took advantage of this, jumping towards him and slashing him on the cheek with his claws. Riku stepped back.

‘Shoot your light!’ 

The mysterious voice pleaded, and Riku reacted as fast as he could, pointing his blade towards where he could hear the voice. 

“Light!” A big light ball came out, speeding through the darkness, breaking the Shadows’ circle and leaving a luminous trail behind it. Riku followed quickly, fleeing from the darkness’ beasts. He rushed as fast as he could, but the deeper into the forest he got, the more darkness beasts joined the chase.

He summoned an ice trail with his magic and slid through it, gaining a bit of an advantage, but his path was cut short by a big stone in the middle of his ice trail. He crashed against it, rolling into the dirt.

He could hear the sounds of the beasts coming closer -- their growls of hunger and madness. And he could feel how he landed -- in a big bush full of thorns -- pricks digging into his skin painfully. 

Was this the end? Was he about to be devoured by his biggest enemy? Was he going to be consumed by the darkness, yet again, only this time to never return?

He breathed deeply and tried to pry his arms free, even if the thorns that dug too deep came with him. He got out, bloody, and readied his blade even after feeling how hurt he was. The fall hadn’t been gentle with him, either -- the rock having injured his ankle.

He was about to charge against the Shadows, but then...

Nothing.

The growls, the steps on the dry leaves, the heavy thumps of the big beasts. All of it was gone.

‘Come.’

He heard the voice again. As relieved as he was, the voice sounded distant, non-corporeal, and was starting to freak Riku out now that his mind was not being clouded by the need to escape from feral darkness beings.

But he had no other choice. He couldn’t go back to the beasts.

He followed the trail of light that managed to stay up even after his concentration had disappeared with the crash. The deeper into the woods he got, the more plants were blocking his way. He was forced to start cutting through them with his blade.

Slowly but surely, he finally got to where his light bullet stopped going forward. And followed the trail up with his eyes.

The light had guided him to an enormous clearing, surrounded by big trees and rose bushes. There were stones in the dirt visible that started to form into something resembling a path. Big towers, enormous walls, tinted glass windows, huge metal fences. Shining like a beacon in the middle of the moonlit clearing was a long, tattered, silver fabric flag. Set attop the tallest tower.

There was no record of this ever existing here.

This was a castle.

Riku got his map out, just to be sure. Indeed, the map of the woods did not show the existence of this place at all, and the map even reached to the border of the neighboring kingdom of Corona, many miles away.

‘Come.’

He heard it once again. Riku did not fear it. Even ghosts inside his head couldn't defeat a heart like his.

He stepped into the walkway, looking around. While the castle seemed to be pretty sturdy, it looked abandoned. Some parts looked almost ruin-esque -- implying the building was left here a long time ago. Long enough not be recorded on the map, at least.

The front garden was completely overgrown with wild bushes and trees of different heights. But the stone floor of the outside looked pretty clean, all things considered. Dust, yes, and covered in mud. But vines and other things abandoned buildings should have? Not really.

He got to the gates and summoned back the light bullet he had outside. He opened the door and used his light magic to illuminate the main hall.

It was a beautiful yet heartbreaking sight. Dust covered the place, cobwebs were plenty, and the magnitude of the place made Riku feel small.

And something else made Riku feel worse.

It stunk of darkness there. 

He tsked and walked into the castle, dimming his light magic a little bit. He didn’t want anyone looking in from outside to think someone was in there. Now he could inspect the castle in peace.

He walked to the middle of the main hall, a big glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The glass fragments reflecting his light magic, shining almost like little stars inside this big empty place.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t?’

There it was again. 

Riku couldn’t stand it anymore and yelled out to the air. “Who are you?! Where are you? Why are you talking to me?!”

He might have lashed out more than necessary, but he needed to know. A presence inside his head made itself known. Shy, almost tentative to even be acknowledged.

It was definitely someone alive.

‘I. . . I am the Heart of this place. And I am here.’

Well, that didn’t make sense, but Riku was relieved he had not yelled at something in vain. And the voice could hear him and answer, so there was that too.

“You are here? In what sense? Do you live in this castle? Are you the same entity that made me use my light out there?” He knew he was asking a lot of questions, but curiosity was getting the best of him.

He felt the presence inside his heart now. It was warm and gleeful. ‘I don’t know, but it's been so long since I’ve seen someone alive like you.’

That raised some red flags. Riku stood still and looked through the windows to the outside. He could see how the sky slowly turned from a dark and sombre blue to a lighter and delicate blue, until finally the sun started to rise. Huh, he really stood all those hours just watching the dawn forgetting about the. . . person? he wanted to interrogate. He glanced back at the big chandelier and sighed.

“Hey, so, what did you mean when you said someone alive?” he called, but the voice inside his head and heart never answered back.

Was it asleep?

Deciding to not waste his time with whatever the voice was doing that made it too busy to answer him, Riku decided to check out the castle. 

He checked the first floor, but all the doors were locked.. At least, the ones that the foyer connected with were. He checked the rest of the hallways, but even those rooms were empty. Some living rooms, some simple bedrooms, the servants rooms, studios, but no hint of anything that could lead him to Naminé’s whereabouts.

Right, because that’s what he was in the search of; the lost princess. Searching every nook and cranny of the first floor turned out to be a hassle and took way more time than needed. At some point Riku started to get so frustrated that he started to slam the doors instead of closing them. Only searching the first floor took him until dusk. The castle was really a formidable place to take so long to explore. He walked back to the foyer.

Through the big, tinted-crystal windows stood the vast and slowly fading dusk. Riku could get lost in its colors if it wasn’t that he had duties to attend to and a promise to fulfill. He had to continue searching the place.

He walked towards the stairs and took the first step. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he jumped back just in time to evade the gust of wind that came down the stairs. The air did make him tumble back, but he regained his balance and summoned his blade, ready to fight.

He looked to the railing atop the stairs, but no one was there. He was about to step back again onto the stairs, but this time gigantic thorny vines protruded out of the floor and created a barrier between him and the second floor. He tried to cut through them but they fought back.

Was this place infested with dark magic? Was there something up there that didn’t wanted him on the second floor? He could really use some backup.

Ready to search for another option, he decided to try from the outside. Before he could even turn around, he heard the big, rusty gates of the castle slam shut.

Another red flag.

Riku rushed to the window and saw that in front of the castle was a giant boulder. One that definitely wasn’t there when he had arrived. He needed to move it if he wanted to get out of there.

He rushed to the main doors Before he could get there, the presence from before came back. And his head felt almost like it would explode.

‘N O.’

He fell to his knees as the voice pierced his head painfully. Or was the noise of the doors slamming closed what made his head hurt? It felt like someone was mushing his brain with their hands.

He tried to reach the door, but it zapped him. He yelled as his hand burned with the buzz of electricity running through it.

‘The kitchens! Hurry! Now!’

The voice sounded distressed and was numbing his senses with the panic that was influencing his mind. But Riku somehow found a way to get up from the floor and hurriedly ran towards one of the doors that connected with the foyer. He didn’t know why he chose that one -- or what might wait for him on the other side -- but he needed to go somewhere where the voice might leave him, and that door called him.

He pushed the door with all his might. Once inside, everything went silent.

His ears rang. But he could finally breathe. 

He gasped in big gulps of air, trying to regain his mind and body fully. He dropped to the floor, exhausted. But finally he could think.

And the first thing he thought of was that inside this room it was warm. Very warm. 

He sat on the floor, back against a wall and looked around. 

Just like the voice had said, these were the kitchen. The room was abnormally huge for a kitchen, and yet it was almost cramped with all the things that were in here. He pushed himself off the wall and stood from the floor .

Walking around and seeing everything took him eventually to one of the corners of the room, where a couple of flour sacks laid. Now seemed like a good time to rest. The fire of the stoves -- small yet powerful -- enveloped him in warmth, and the quietness of the place compared to the disaster that was outside was reminding Riku that he hadn’t slept in a full day. He sat on the sacks, focused on trying to understand what happened. And yet it didn’t even occur to him how in such an old castle the embers of a stove had survived so long, and that it meant there actually was someone there.

He sat there for a while, until he realized he was dozing off and laid back on the sacks. He summoned his blade and tried not to close his eyes, but he was unsuccessful. 

Riku was almost asleep when someone appeared besides the sacks, and the place went from warm to hot. He opened his eyes and scrambled to a seating position, finally seeing eye to eye with the intruder.

He wasn’t tired enough for what he saw in front of him. He opened his mouth to talk, shocked. But a big sharp chakram was pointed in his direction.

“Who are you?”


	2. Act Two: The Ghost of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IIIIIII'M BAAAAAACK. With the continuation of this thing which I'm so excited will get more into the castle situation and everyone who lives there!!! Imma introduce the Organization gradually, but I can't wait for you to meet them all!!

Riku looked at the chakram in front of his face and felt the heat from it. He looked up and saw a lanky and tall man wielding it, with red hair that was on fire? 

Riku was frozen. Who was he? How did he get inside the kitchen without making noise and almost ambush him?

The man with the chakrams frowned, and the fire on his head grew stronger. Riku could feel it from where he was seated on the sacks.

"I asked you something, answer!" the man demanded again, this time small flames dancing around him. Riku studied him for a second. He was definitely not human if he was going by the fire not damaging him. But he also wasn't a faerie, since Riku couldn't feel any magic core inside him. All magical creatures had one.

The other possibility was a spirit. And the slight darkness he felt inside him could be a clue. He stood up from the sacks. Might as well not get on his bad side.

"I am Grand Master Riku, from the Council of Masters. I've come to this place on a mission and I mean no harm." He wasn’t lying saying that. After hearing this, the other one perked up and lowered his weapon. The fire died down slowly until only the hair was burning. 

"You're. . . a Master?" the red-head asked. His expression had a dash of relief in it. "That means you're a Warrior of Light, right?" 

Riku nodded. What was he getting at? A smile blossomed on the red-head's face, and the chakrams disappeared.

"Oh gee, you're gonna be so much help. You see, there's a situation this place is dealing with. The name's Lea. And I need your help, Mister Master." 

Riku stood up from the sacks. 

Lea leaned against one of the stoves. "I already introduced myself, so I'll give you the short story. Judging by your wounds, you already know this castle is not an ordinary castle. Well, that’s not the end of it. I’m a ghost, and I'm not the only one here. There are others like me, each apparently bonded to a room of the castle. We were all human once, but we got trapped here when our Lord succumbed to the darkness. We can't leave, nor rest, and apparently the old man is not only binding us to the castle, but hurting its conscience, too. Got no idea how that works, but turns out the place is alive." 

Riku listened carefully. Alive? Then that’s what the voice inside his head might have meant when it said it was ‘here’. Maybe it was the castle?

"Once we realized we had these kinds of powers and stuff, we started to shift forms without control. Real freaky, I tell you. So, my idea is, you help us stop this curse and set us free, and you'll get a new base or something. I'm not really offering much, but we're really desperate. So please." 

Lea's tone slowly shifted from suave to unsure. Riku was feeling the same way. He’d like to help if the darkness was involved, and even more now that he knew someone was being affected by it. But he only came here on one mission.

"I know you need more context to help us, so I know the guy who can give you that. If you're gonna help us, you need to understand what's happening and if not, at least to pass a report to your superiors so they can come and help us instead," Lea said, not giving Riku a moment to answer.

“And yeah, I might be rushing you into action without knowing if you’d help us or not, but follow me if you feel like it. Won’t sign you up for anything if that makes you feel better.”

Lea opened the door of the kitchen and walked outside without waiting for Riku to follow. Riku stood there for a moment. He couldn't say no to this request, but he had things to do, and not doing them was really nagging his thoughts. He groaned and followed Lea into the foyer. 

Once there, he noticed that the candles and torches inside were lit up, and he wasn't in complete darkness anymore. Lea had used his fire to light them up and was now walking to the other side of the giant foyer, towards a pale blue wooden door at the back. He waited for Riku in front of the door, leaning against it. 

"We're gonna see someone who remembers what happened better than I do, so hopefully you'll have an idea of what you're dealing with. Just a warning, he’s a really bubbly guy, and I mean it in a literal sense. His body shifts a lot between water and-" 

Riku raised his hand to stop him. 

"Woah, woah, okay, this is the second time you mention something about shifting. Does this have to do with the fact that you're bonded to a room of the castle or something? I need more context than this." 

Lea turned silent for a moment and sighed.

"See, that's the thing, I don't remember exactly why it is that we do that. I can only tell you that we're not entirely a physical form. We all have the ability to shift to an element for some reason. And some have better control over it than others. I don't really leave the kitchen, so I don't talk with the others a lot, but apparently Myde here knows a lot about this. So let's just get in, okay? I'm not being a lot of help here, Master." 

He pushed the door open and Riku was surprised to see the contrast between the kitchen and the...laundry room? Bathroom? Whatever it was, it was gigantic and full of moonlight. The walls were high, and the baby blue wallpaper was cracking in places. The ceiling was dome-shaped with a big hole in the center, pale light illuminating everything.

There were fountains inside -- some full of bubbles, some empty -- some still had running water in them. There were lots of soapy puddles across the floor. In the middle of the room was a white marble bathtub, filled to the brim with water and foam. Inside the tub laid a person giggling while playing with the bubbles.

Riku finally understood what Lea meant when he said shifting. Unlike Lea, whose fire was only on his hair, the person on the bathtub seemed to have parts of his body made of water. The water seemed to take the shape of flesh on some spots, making it look like splotches of skin across the arms that Riku had seen outside the tub. And the parts that looked like water were transparent and see-through.

Lea cleared his throat and the person, a man, turned towards them and smiled.

"Well, hey there, Lea, finally decided to leave that furnace you call a room?" 

Lea didn't respond and instead got closer. Riku followed him. 

"Yeah, missed you, too, Myde. Would love to tell you all the fun I had there, but I have more important things to do." He pointed to Riku. "Meet Grand Master Riku. He's here to help us stop being ghosts." Myde's smile widened and he extended a hand out of the tub, which Riku shook, so his hand was now covered in cold water. 

"Welcome to the cursed castle, Master Riku! Ignore this one's acid attitude. He's just affected by his element." Lea crossed his arms and murmured an 'Am not' under his breath. 

Riku just smiled while shaking the water off his hand. "Nice to meet you. Lea was telling me you and some other people are under a curse caused by the darkness, am I right?" 

Myde nodded and relaxed back into his tub. He looked at the moon through the hole in the ceiling.

"It was really long ago that it happened. You see, there were more of us before this. But there were a lot of losses. too, and now it's just us twelve." Riku could hear how the cheery tone in Myde's voice disappeared. 

"We were a company that travelled with our lord, Xemnas, from the land of Nihilum. We were traveling to the coast to meet with a relative of the ruler of Nihilum in Scala ad Caelum, a few weeks from here. We were going to stop at the Sors kingdom to restock our supplies and rest, but the lord didn't want to set foot there. Something about being a Master's land or whatever. So we took a detour, and after a few hours we ended up here. The castle was already abandoned but it had beds. Even if we didn't restock, we could at least rest, right? Well, we were wrong." 

Myde's eyes were almost piercing the floor with how intensely he was gazing at it.

"One of the sisters of a member of the company fell ill before the journey. But we still took her with us. And when we got to the border of Sors we had no medicine. Lauriam, her brother, insisted on going to Sors, buy it, and return, but Xemnas forbid it anyway, and sadly she only got worse. Once we arrived here, she was already so weak. We couldn't do anything, and she passed once the sun had risen. Lauriam mourned her so intensely that even us who hardly knew her felt his pain. It only went downhill from there." 

The puddles on the floor started to ripple, as if they were being disturbed by a nonexistent breeze.

"It started to get worse and worse. One got beaten to death in the forge room. One was thrown out of the window of the watchtower. Another was crushed by the shelves of the library, Lea..." Myde stopped in his tracks and trailed his eyes up and up to find Lea's face. Lea's eyes were piercing the floor right now, but he still nodded as if allowing Myde to continue. "Lea was burned alive in the kitchen." Myde bit his lip before continuing. 

"I got drowned in this same bathtub,” Myde caressed the side of the bathtub, but his face wasn't of someone who was fond of the object. He looked conflicted. After a while he finally sighed.

“After that, I woke up breathing under the water, and tried to leave the castle but, as you can see, I didn’t make it. Eventually I found out everyone else in the castle continued to die after I drowned. The last one of us to die, Dilan, told us that he never found out who it was, and he was killed by the murderer before he could find out their identity. Then, the castle started to breathe.”

The soap puddle on the floor started to create foam, and bubbles popped into the air. Myde leaned into the side of the tub, watching them with a fond smile.

“He sleeps during the day, and makes us have a rest too. But at night, he awakens. And so do we.” 

To say Riku was shocked at the truth of what happened to the ghosts was a misunderstanding. He was horrified by the tale but he let Myde continue. He was talking about the living castle, and he needed to know more.

“He has a name, Sora. He told me that Xemnas, our leader, is alive, and that both he and the rest of us can’t leave because our hearts have been bound to Xemnas’ to create more darkness. So, now we live night after night as souls trapped inside this castle. Unable to leave because a great darkness has seeped into Sora’s heart and hurts the castle, and we have also become beings of darkness, therefore we’re stuck too.” 

Myde stood from the tub and showed his lower body.

There, in all his naked glory, his right leg was covered in black and it seemed like thorns were coiling around it.

“Lea?” Myde asked the redhead, as if asking him for something. Lea took off his coat and tugged the neck of shirt down. A big shapeless mark in the middle of his chest. Darkness was consuming them.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do this. I’m just here for one mission and one mission only, that is finding my princess.” Myde’s disappointed face made Riku feel guilty. “However, I can’t just leave you guys helpless. I’ll pass a report to the Council, so someone will come to your aid. I’m sorry for not being able to help you right now. I’ll come back once I’m finished with my own problem.” 

Lea perked up and grabbed his arm before Riku could leave. “Is she by any chance a small girl in a white dress, blonde hair and blue eyes?” Lea asked. Riku stopped fully, his attention now completely on the fiery ghost.

Myde came out of his tub. “Wait, Lea, you saw her?” 

The red-head looked back at the water ghost and smirked. “Why of course, a blonde little lost human in need of help inside a big dark castle?” He released Riku’s arm and pointed to his own head. “Totally got it memorized.”

___________________________________________________________

Lea ended up taking both Myde and Riku to where he said he last saw Naminé. Apparently the castle had a secret door in the foyer that led to the prison cells, which Naminé discovered in her attempts at getting out.

“I tried to follow her. I wasn’t the only one who heard the ruckus that time but the sun was rising and the castle did not allow me to stay up, forcing me to go back into the kitchens,” Lea explained.

Myde leaned a little to whisper to Riku. “Yeah, apparently the castle has a really bad temper when waking up and falling asleep.” He pointed to Riku’s scratched arms. “And I think you had the luck of being in his way when he woke up.”

“All of the other ghosts stay away from the foyer as the first sunray appears in the sky and as the first moonray falls down,” Lea said. “That’s when the castle usually releases all its frustration when waking or sleeping.”

They had been walking down the prison aisle with Lea using his fire as a light source for a while, but Riku was starting to think that Lea had been lying about Naminé just to keep Riku with them. Then again, he knew what she looked like so it made him feel a little safer in his decision.

Myde stopped them after a while with an arm in front of Riku.

Riku looked at Myde. “What’s wrong? You heard something?” 

Myde nodded. “Not really but the water did.” He lifted his arm and showed Riku the uneven movement the water was making through his arm. The water spots flowed up and down Myde’s body. 

Lea dulled his fire a little. “Are you acting up because we made you leave your room?” 

Myde shook his head. “N-No, it’s just, the water feels something dense and dangerous. Maybe it’s another one of us but I can’t be sure.” 

Riku felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand and summoned his blade, pointing it ahead of them. He started to feel a presence, too. A big, powerful one. And, somehow, very earthy. Lea groaned and shot a very fast fireball towards the end of the hall they were walking through. The fire lit up its path as it went, startling both Riku and Myde.

There seemed to be nothing, until the fire reached a big figure at the end of the hall, which Riku could make out as a man. Lea gave them a tired gaze. “See, it’s just Aeleus, man. Why’d you get all nervous and defensive about it?” 

Myde let out a breath and his stance relaxed. “I still have trouble remembering everyone’s aura. I’m not that dense, y’know? My soul is just too sensitive to darkness.”

Riku decided to give better lighting to the other ghost and shot a light bullet towards him. The bullet stopped above the man, Aeleus, and lit up his full form. That’s when Riku finally noticed he walked towards them, carrying something in his arms.

As he slowly walked towards them -- and the group walked towards him -- Riku noticed it was a body. The princess.

His body acted on its own and he ran towards the man, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he quickly approached him. 

“Naminé!” He felt the joy of finding her envelop him and slowed his pace when he was a few steps from Aeleus and Naminé. His smile couldn’t be contained. “By the Light, I’m so happy you’re okay. I-” 

Aeleus shushed Riku and his gaze lowered down to the sleeping form of Naminé in his arms. Riku took note of it and slowly stretched his arms so Aeleus would give her to him, and he did. Carefully, Aeleus placed Naminé in Riku’s arms and nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

Riku stopped smiling when he heard that and looked up into Aeleus eyes. His stern eyes. Eyes that couldn’t hide his pain as he lifted Namine’s hand, and the pale skin of her hand transitioned into lighter and lighter to the tips of her fingers until Riku could see through it.

She was a ghost.

Riku felt his heart stop when he understood the situation. His body felt weak, but he forced himself to come back to reality so he did not drop Naminé. 

So...his mission was for nothing? How could he go back to Sors and present Naminé like this when she wasn't even alive? He frowned. Lea and Myde finally reached them, and Lea whistled. 

“Well, that’s not a good sign at all.” 

Riku glared at him. Myde was frowning, too, but his frown was more out of worry than anger.

“Did you find her like that, Aeleus?” Myde asked. The burly man nodded and pointed towards where he came from. Riku noticed the same dark tendrils Myde and Lea had coiling around part of his arm. 

“I was resting in my chamber when I heard someone in the prison corridor a couple nights ago. I suppose it was her. I started to make some rounds every night until I found her in front of one of the corridors that were closed with dark vines. She was already asleep, and I decided to carry her when I noticed she was a ghost, too,” Aeleus said. 

Myde got closer to Riku and opened his mouth to say something when Naminé stirred in her sleep.

Everybody grew quiet and still -- trying not to disturb her -- but in the end the princess started to wake. She stretched her body the best she could while being carried, and Riku decided to slowly let her stand. She leaned against him while she rubbed her eyes and finally looked around.

Everyone there looked at her curiously. Except for Riku, who smiled fondly and helped her stand straight. 

“Good morning, Your Highness.” 

Naminé looked puzzled. “You…” 

Riku cleared his throat and bowed. “I am Grand Master Riku, from the Council of Light. The king sent me to search for you, Your Highness.” 

She still looked puzzled. “What happened? What is this place, Master Riku?” 

Riku was about to explain when Myde interrupted him. 

“Hi! This is the cursed castle, where we live.” He pointed to Lea, Aeleus and himself. “You ended up here some nights ago and we finally found you!” He was awfully cheerful for someone who just disclosed that he lived as a cursed being in a cursed place. The princess obviously was more confused, but she stretched out her hand to greet them anyway.

And she would have done it, if it wasn’t for noticing her transparent hand. Her eyes widened, and she brought her hand closer. Riku was back to frowning. 

“Your Highness, I’m sure there’s an explanation to how this happened but I would like for us first to get out of here, so I may brief you on how you got here.” 

Namine nodded and followed him outside.

They emerged from the hidden corridor of the prisons out into the foyer, and Riku took a moment to explain to Naminé what happened before she arrived: her kidnapping and Riku forging a vow with the king to give him aid to bring her back. Only it turned out it was not only a royal affair anymore, but a supernatural one, too. 

Naminé opened and closed her transparent hand a couple times. “Does this mean that I’ll be in this form forever?” 

Riku placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t looked perturbed. “That’s yet to bee seen, Your Highness. Don’t worry about it, we’ll find an answer.

Riku turned to Myde. “Myde, might one of the ghosts be of any help to us? Do any of them know anything that could be helpful?” 

Myde bit his lip, thinking. “I’m not sure, but I’m gonna be honest. Not everyone is so fond of me, so some of them might not want to help us.”

Riku hummed in comprehension, but Aeleus spoke up. “What about Ienzo? He might not be an expert on supernatural stuff, but he is a scholar, after all.” 

Lea groaned. “As Myde said, not everyone is fond of him. But in this case Shortie’s not the best dealing with anybody outside of you and maybe Even, Aeleus. Him being smart does not mean he’d want to cooperate.” 

“Well, he could. We won’t know if we never try,” Riku answered the red-head, and he turned to Myde. “Where does he linger?” 

Myde pointed to the big stairs where Riku was attacked earlier. “He’s in the library.” 

Riku stood still for a while, looking at them. Yeah, Myde said that him being attacked was just something that happened because of the time that he was in the foyer. Why precisely the foyer? He didn’t know. But he didn’t want to risk getting attacked again, even more now that Naminé was going with him. 

He took a deep breath. No, he had to do this. He stepped towards the stairs when he heard a voice.

“Wait!” Someone behind them spoke. Riku let out the breath he was holding. 

Everyone turned. A big, burly man with black dreads was walking toward them. He had a big and stern aura, intimidating -- totally different to Aeleus’. His dreads danced in the non-existent wind inside the castle.

‘This must be the wind ghost,’ Riku thought.

The ghost stopped in front of everyone and pointed at Riku. “Are you the one who came to rescue the girl?” he asked. Riku nodded. The ghost bowed his head. 

“I am Dilan. I captured the man who had her with him. And if you are to take her back to your kingdom, I ask you take him, too.” The ghost, Dilan, said. 

Riku thought about it for a while. Was it safe to bring the man who kidnapped Naminé along with them? He might tell them who sent him, but then again, he could also try to harm them both. 

Oh right, Naminé is a ghost, now. Maybe she would be safe? But the ghosts seem to be pretty corporeal. She could be harmed even as a ghost. He groaned. This turned out to be an even more difficult decision than he had thought. Maybe after he had him under his watch he would have a better idea of what to do? Yeah, that sounds like the most viable answer.

Riku turned to the princess. “If I can identify him maybe I can take him with me to the kingdom while I report what happened here to the king. I’m gonna have to take you with me so you can confirm if it was the man who kidnapped you. Is that alright, Your Highness?” 

Naminé bit her lip a little and sighed. “I don’t think my memory about the kidnaping is that fresh, but I will try my best to be of help.” Riku smiled and looked at the wind ghost.

“We’ll take him,” Riku said. Dilan nodded and summoned a lance that whirled a little before he grabbed it. He seemed satisfied. Myde stepped to the front holding his hand up, as if to ask something.

Riku nondded to Myde, allowing him to speak. “Yeah, uhm, what are we gonna do in the meantime? I assume you guys are gonna be the only ones going outside..” He pointed out. He was right, Riku and Naminé were the ones going with Dilan. That left out Aeleus, Myde and Lea there.

“How about you guys think of what is the best approach to make Ienzo help us?” Riku suggested. Aeleus and Lea shrugged, mildly convinced. 

“I guess we do need to think about how to make Shortie lend us a hand. We can’t just barge in,” said Lea. He sighed. “Alright, you can go. We’ll handle that in the meantime.” Myde frowned, not too excited about the idea, but with no other place to go.

Riku nodded as a thanks and gestured to Dilan to lead the way. Dilan nodded and twirled his lance as he turned. He walked towards one of the hallways on the side of the foyer. “This way, Princess.” 

Naminé and Riku followed.


End file.
